19 miles

 Again, I can't believe its the end of March! Where does time go? Training is coming along nicely. 

Today I had 16 miles scheduled but thought I'd do an even 3 hour run which ended up making it 19 miles.

Most of my training references have me written up to do a slow conversational pace at 9:27 - 10:27 and heart rate around 70%.....seems slow hey!  But, this is my first marathon so I am taking the word of the experts to heart! fingers crossed for no injuries! They, (Hal Higgins and Greg McMillan....yes I have two personal programs that I have mashed together), state that this once weekly long run should be SLOW. So I did exactly that with the help of "Mr. Garmin"!  I kept my heart rate between 72 and 75% and my pace avg was 9:45.  I was asked to do 1 min pick ups from time to time during the run if I felt frisky :)....so I did! and it felt great.  I finished in 3 hours which ended up being 19 miles (including warm up). I finished the run off with a quick chocolate boost drink and finally I feel confident that I will be able to complete the marathon.

Oh, and I did a 15 minute ice bath after my run this morning. It was a struggle getting in. But, I took some advice from other bloggers and placed the ice in there after I was submerged in the cold water. I also had some nice hot green tea and my runners magazine to occupy my mind while time seemed to stand still. It wasn't that bad, a lot of shivering in the legs and the feet got a bit painful. Hopefully my lower limbs will feel the benefits tomorrow!

I am having tummy issues at around mile 10 of my long runs and I am not sure why? It may be  related to pre-run fuel or fuel during the run? I am still doing the trial and error thing with that. I used only 1 Gu gel today because I was tying it out...not to bad overall so I think I may stick with this. My next issue is hydration...I totally dislike the belts and I tried a hand held but felt so irritated holding it for so long???

23 more sleeps before vacation time!  I couldn't have picked a better time to go on vacation...NOT....I will be at my peak mileage and on vacation, I hope I can do that! But, on the positive side, I can't wait to do early morning runs in Maui!

 Have a great week and Happy Easter
Barb